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Sudan Calls On Security Council to Intervene, Halt GERD 2nd Filling

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam before the second filling phase next July. (Reuters)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam before the second filling phase next July. (Reuters)
    Cairo, Khartoum- Ahmed Younis and Mohamed Nabil Helmy
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Sudan Calls On Security Council to Intervene, Halt GERD 2nd Filling

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam before the second filling phase next July. (Reuters)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam before the second filling phase next July. (Reuters)

Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi has considered Ethiopia’s plans to move forward with the second phase of filling its mega-dam on the Blue Nile an “attack” on her country.

She called on the United Nations Security Council to intervene to reach friendly solutions and halt the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) threatening regional peace and security.

In a letter addressed to the media, the FM stressed that Ethiopians have disrespected good neighborliness when they carried out the first filling of the dam reservoir in July 2020.

Addis Ababa’s announcing it would carry out the second filling in the next rainy season is a “flagrant violation of Sudan’s national security and endangers the lives of 20 million Sudanese living downstream of the GERD.”

Mahdi attached to the letter a study presented to the international community and the region, in which she outlined Sudan’s firm position on the GERD project.

She further slammed Ethiopia’s unilateral steps taken in this regard and without reaching any legally binding agreement with relevant countries.

According to the text study, Khartoum informed the Security Council about the developments in the African Union-sponsored negotiations with Addis Ababa.

It highlighted Addis Ababa’s insistence to proceed with the second filling unilaterally, which was deepening the crisis and preventing disputed parties from reaching amicable solutions.

Mahdi urged the Security Council to support Sudan and Egypt’s efforts to expand negotiations on GERD’s filling and operation, return to the round table as soon as possible and reach a comprehensive and final agreement.

The Foreign Ministry called on Ethiopia to recognize Sudan’s rights and ensure that its unilateral steps do not affect the Sudanese people.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted on Sunday that the second filling of the mega-dam will go ahead as scheduled in July/August, noting that this step will prevent floods in neighboring Sudan.

Cairo and Khartoum reject Addis Ababa’s unilateral second filling of the dam before reaching a binding agreement.

The latest round of talks between the three countries in Kinshasa ended with no progress reached.

Cairo and Khartoum have earlier proposed to include the European Union, United States, and United Nations in the negotiations, in an addition to current African Union mediators. However, the proposal was rejected by Addis Ababa.

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Arab World

Iran Further Undermines Yemen’s Sovereignty as Houthis Violate the Truce

Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Further Undermines Yemen’s Sovereignty as Houthis Violate the Truce

Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
Smoke rises following airstrikes on Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, 13 July 2026. (EPA)

Yemen's legitimate government said it struck Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport on Monday, its biggest flare-up in years with the militants.

The government said it had wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital, after failing to convince a Houthi delegation that went to Tehran for the late Iranian supreme leader's funeral to board a Yemenia flight instead.

The latest escalation threatens to unravel a truce that has been holding since 2022 despite expiring, and comes at a time of heightened tensions as the United States and Iran trade attacks impacting the Gulf and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Yemen's Defense Ministry accused the Houthis of "allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted".

Following the strikes, the head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad al-Alimi, said he had "ordered that the scope of the confrontation not be expanded".

He held the Houthis “fully accountable for the escalation,” saying they had insisted on welcoming a new Iranian flight despite objections and attempts to contain the crisis and avert more tensions.

The government had run out of political and legal options before the arrival of the flight. He added that the government had offered to operate the flight through the Yemenia airline seeing as it is the national carrier.

The Houthis rejected the proposal and insisted on welcoming the Iranian plane outside official channels, stated al-Alimi, saying this was evidence that the militants “were not serving the people or easing their suffering, but deepening the division and imposing a status quo that serves foreign agendas.”

He ordered the army and security forces “to be on the highest level of alert and take the necessary political, diplomatic, legal and military measures allowed by the constitution and international law to protect Yemen’s airspace and land and sea ports.”

Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shaya al-Zindani held an extraordinary government meeting in the interim capital Aden to discuss the escalation.

The cabinet tasked the Foreign Ministry with intensifying its contacts with friendly nations and regional and international organizations to urge them against the use of Yemen’s airspace outside official channels.

Smoke rises after reports of an airstrike hitting near the Sanaa International Airport, as seen from Sanaa, Yemen, July 13, 2026. (Reuters)

It held the Houthis “fully responsible for the escalation and its consequences”, accusing them of “undermining peace efforts and exposing Yemen and the region to more dangers”.

It also held the Iranian regime responsible for the escalation given its continued support to the Houthis.

Ahead of the strike, the Defense Ministry had urged citizens to evacuate the airport and its vicinity for their safety.

It vowed that it would “deal with any party or plane that tries to violate Yemen’s airspace or orders issued by relevant authorities.”

Government authorities had for days warned that flights to Sanaa should only take place through state institutions.

Houthi sources later said the plane, which was carrying a Houthi delegation, landed in Hodeidah airport.

Yemeni authorities held the Houthis responsible for the escalation for insisting on imposing their own arrangements away from official regulations.

Monday’s escalation took place after the Houthis insisted on receiving Iranian flights at Sanaa airport amid the government’s refusal to operate flights outside official channels.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, urged the parties to turn to diplomacy, saying his office has "contacted military representatives from all sides".

Earlier in the day, the Yemeni government accused the Houthis of preventing an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aircraft from leaving Sanaa airport and holding the pilot and co-pilot "hostage".

"All ICRC staff and the crew of the plane are safe and accounted for," ICRC spokesman for the Middle East Hachem Osseiran told AFP.

Arab World

Spanish PM to Visit Algeria in Bid to Mend Ties

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)
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Spanish PM to Visit Algeria in Bid to Mend Ties

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talks to media during a visit in the area of a wildfire that killed at least 13 people, at the command post set in Turre, Almeria Province, on July 13, 2026. (AFP)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will travel to Algeria next week for an official visit aimed at ending years of tensions between the two countries over the Western Sahara dispute, his office said on Monday.

The visit on July 20 will be Sanchez's first trip to Algeria since relations deteriorated in 2022 after Madrid shifted its longstanding position of neutrality on Western Sahara and backed Morocco's autonomy plan for the disputed territory.

Spain's move was part of a diplomatic rapprochement with Morocco, ending its decades of ambiguity on the issue but angering Algeria, which supports the pro-independence Polisario Front, which opposes Rabat's claim over the former Spanish colony.

Western Sahara, a mineral-rich desert territory with significant phosphate reserves and fishing resources, was controlled by Spain until 1975.

Morocco now controls most of the territory.

In response to the policy shift in Madrid, Algeria suspended a 2002 friendship treaty with Spain and restricted trade ties between the two countries.

Relations have gradually improved since 2025, with commercial exchanges beginning to recover.

Arab World

New Round of Lebanon-Israel Talks to Begin on Tuesday

An Israeli military vehicle covered with netting to protect against FPV drones patrols on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from an undisclosed location along the border, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
An Israeli military vehicle covered with netting to protect against FPV drones patrols on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from an undisclosed location along the border, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
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New Round of Lebanon-Israel Talks to Begin on Tuesday

An Israeli military vehicle covered with netting to protect against FPV drones patrols on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from an undisclosed location along the border, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
An Israeli military vehicle covered with netting to protect against FPV drones patrols on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from an undisclosed location along the border, 13 July 2026. (EPA)

The sixth round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel are to begin on Tuesday in Rome, a Lebanese official told AFP on Monday.

The two-day talks will begin at 10.00am (0800 GMT), the official said, requesting anonymity.

An Italian foreign ministry spokesperson had earlier said the talks would be held on July 15 and 16, and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had confirmed on July 7 that the negotiations would resume "next week".

The two countries, which have no formal relations, began direct talks in April after Tehran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel in support of Iran the month prior.

They recently reached a framework agreement that calls for Hezbollah's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory while Lebanon's army deploys into "pilot zones".

But the agreement -- rejected by Hezbollah -- does not set a timetable for Israel's withdrawal, and Israeli officials have also vowed that their forces will remain in a "security zone" 10 kilometers (six miles) deep along the frontier for as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

A US military delegation met with Lebanon's army in Beirut last week to discuss the implementation of Israel's withdrawal from a first pilot zone.